Saturday, May 20, 2006

Idiot O'Reilly May 20

I'm just going to date the O'Reilly entries because I am losing count.

On the Wednesday "The O'Reilly Factor" TV Show, O'Reilly featured a story about the furor over anti-Christian cartoons in a University of Oregon student newspaper, The Insurgent. One cartoon depicted Jesus on the cross with an erection. Another depicted a sexually aroused Jesus kissing another man. The issue also included essays critical of Christianity and Catholicism. Many students and critics (many stirred up by Catholic organizations) claim the cartoons in the March issue overstep the First Amendment and want UOregon President Dave Frohnmayer to step in.

O'Reilly's producers called Frohnmayer's office on Wednesday morning to have him appear on the show. That would have meant a round trip to the closest FOX TV station, in Portland. Frohnmayer declined, not only because of a busy schedule, but because "There's no reason to drive 200 miles to appear on a show that's entertainment."

In response, O’Reilly labelled Frohnmayer a coward who should be fired and that the issue is one of hate, not free speech.

On Thursday, Frohnmayer noted that he denounced the cartoons when they appeared, but said U.S. Supreme Court rulings (specifically the Southworth decision) prohibit denying funding for such publications on content-based issues. The Insurgent receives fees paid by all University of Oregon students.

Frohnmayer shrugged off O’Reilly’s comments, saying, "Being called names by him is like being called ugly by a frog." He also dismissed O’Reilly is an entertainer, not a serious journalist, observing, "Bill O'Reilly doesn't know the First Amendment from the back of his own hand, which is a shame because he takes full abuse of it."

[Note to Frohnmayer. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Either you will now occupy the O'Reilly Wall of Shame, or he's going to launch an economic boycott of the University of Oregon. You can't diss Bill like that. Don't you realize what a girlie-man Bill is? Say something bad, and he has a hissy fit.]

Editors at The Insurgent said they decided to publish the cartoons after an earlier uproar over cartoons in a Danish newspaper that took aim at Islam. Those cartoons caused rioting and deaths in some Muslim parts of the world. Ironically, O'Reilly had supported the publication of controversial Danish cartoons.